Background: The benefits of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) are limited by reperfusion injury. In animal models, nicorandil, a hybrid of an ATP-sensitive K(+) (KATP) channel opener and nitrates, reduces infarct size, so the Japan-Working groups of acute myocardial Infarction for the reduction of Necrotic Damage by a K-ATP channel opener (J-WIND-KATP) designed a prospective, randomized, multicenter study to evaluate whether nicorandil reduces myocardial infarct size and improves regional wall motion when used as an adjunctive therapy for AMI.
Methods and results: Twenty-six hospitals in Japan are participating in the J-WIND-KATP study. Patients with AMI who are candidates for PCI are randomly allocated to receive either intravenous nicorandil or placebo. The primary end-points are (1) estimated infarct size and (2) left ventricular function. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that may be associated with the function of KATP-channel and the susceptibility of AMI to the drug will be examined. Furthermore, a data mining method will be used to design the optimal combined therapy for post-myocardial infarction (MI) patients.
Conclusions: It is intended that J-WIND-KATP will provide important data on the effects of nicorandil as an adjunct to PCI for AMI and that the SNPs information that will open the field of tailor-made therapy. The optimal therapeutic drug combination will also be determined for post-MI patients.